The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-04-28
CANTON, OHIO,
A RAVING MANAGES DEED.
HE ATTEMPTS TO MURDER HIS WIFE
AND CHILD.

Failing to Fully Accomplish the Brutal
Act, He Nearly Sewers His Head With q
Butcher KnIfe--A Similar Crime Com
mitted In the Same Vicinity Recalled.
! CINCINNATI, April 27-The sight of q
woman leaning from the second story window
Of No. BlS Sycamore street, with the blood
flowing from two gashes in her head this
morning at o'clock, conveyed to the horror
stricken neighbocs but slight idea of the
terrible tragedy which had been enacted
within and the still more terrible one which
bad been attempted at the same time, but
which fortunately failed The house in
question is a two story frame, situated di-
rectly under the shadow of the HILL on the
side of which, in full view, stands the house
/ on Walker street. in which the terrible murder
| Of his defenssless wife by the brutal Pat
Hartnet5 was conni5tei but few years
! ago. Here has resided for several years
Henry Heile, aged thirty, with his wife and
two children agsl three and five years.
Last summer Heile began to show signs of
softeuing of the brain, and graw so bad that
he lost his situation. His father sent him to
Michigan with his brother, where, after
| spending couple Of molths in travelling, he
returned to tni5 city, apparently greatly inn
| proved in mind and health He soon lapsed
into his old spells of mental arrangement,
and at times caused his wife and family
grave apprehensions as to their safety.
This morning at 4:3O Mrs Helle was
| h,r f,a oot;p ~ ,o,, hue
band, who was pacing the bedroom floor in
an agitated manner. He appeared to be
seeking something. She sought to calm him,
! but her efforts only appeared to infuriate
him, and render him raving maniac He
pushed her violently to one side and glared
at her with fiery eyeballs, like a wild beast.
Remembering only the danger of her two
little ones, one of whom was lying asleep on
the lounge in the room, the brave little wo-
man continued her persulsions to get him
back to bed. He flung her aside again. and
rushing to the corner of the room, picked up
| hatchet and proceeded to knock the fur
niture about with it,
The poor woman made an effort TO reach
her sleeping child and carry it in safety
beyond the reach of its crazed father He
chased her from the room, however, and
turned toward the child. She rushed in and
tried to grasp his arm, but he was too strong
for her. and aiming a murderous blow at
her head the weapon striking the back of
the head, cutting the scalp open to the skull
from which the blood spurted out. She
\ staggered and was about to fall when he,
probably imagining he had done his work
thoroughly, turned to the sleeping child and
raised the hatchet above its innocent head as
| If about to strike it. With q scream, the
mother, forgetting her own danger, threw
! herself beneath the descending weapon with
her arms raised to protect herself as best she
could The edge of the hatchet struck her
on the top of the head, and would have split
her skull wide open had not her arm broken
the force of the blow, as it received the
| handle of the hatchet across her wrist. As
it was her heavy hair aud the broken blow
saved her from instant death.
Throwing open the window above the sofa
on which the child repose1 Mrs. Heile
screamed for help. Her screams appear to
| have aroused Heile to his senses somewhat.
He hesitated, dropped the hatchet and fed to
| the kitchen, appearing in the bedroom mo-
ment later with a huge bread or butcher
knife in his hand. Without offering his wife
| further violence he drew the keen blade
across MS CnrOaG ana WIN quick mOVemenU
| nearly sawed his head from his body, and
fell to the floor with the blood gushing in
torrents from the awful wound, just as his
! father-in-lsw, Mr.. Meyers, who had been at
tracted by the screaming of his wife, ap-
peared. At the sight of her father Mrs.
Heile swooned and was carried to his apart
ments When Mr.. Meyers returned to the
| room Heie was corpse.
Coroner Rendigs was called and viewed
the remains He also examined Mrs. Heile's
injuries, and pronounced them not neces-
sarily fatal of themselves, but regards her
condition as dangerous because of her ad-
vanced pregnancy "The suicide has several
brothers in the feed business on Water and
| Walnut streets.
The attempted murder of Mrs. Heile
bears a striking similarity to that COM
mitted by Hartnett, who, while laboring
under spell Of insane jealousy, murdered
his wife with an ak in house just one
square up the side of the hill back of Heile's
residence, and at precisely the same hour of
the morning, and also in the presence of his
children Hartnett, however, made no at
tempt at suicide but was captured and hung
for his crime.